A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, in a rare expendable mission with a brand new first stage, will lift the Hispasat 30W-6 commercial communications satellite into Geostationary Transfer Orbit for Madrid-based satellite operator Hispasat. Weighing in at 6.1 metric tons, the satellite will require the entirety of Falcon’s performance and not permit the first stage booster to be recovered. Based on SS/L’s 1300 satellite platform, Hispasat 30W-6 hosts a powerful communications payload comprising 48 Ku-band, 6 Ka-band, 1 Ka-BSS and 1 C-band transponder for the provision of the full palette of telecommunications services to Europe, North Africa, and the Americas including television distribution, broadband Internet and corporate networking services.

India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.II will lift the GSAT-6A Communications Satellite into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit. The 2,100-Kilogram GSAT-6A joins a series of satellites for multi-media and mobile applications, hosting a payload comprising five C-by-S and five S-by-C-Band transponders optimized for Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting. The satellite’s capacity can also be used for strategic and social applications.

A “Europeanized” Soyuz rocket will launch from the Guiana Space Center with the third set of O3b satellites joining a constellation of telecommunications satellites placed into an 8,063-Kilometer orbit above the equator to deliver low-latency data services to the developing world. O3b stands for “the other three billion” in reference to the world’s population that can not connect to the Internet through conventional means; it is operated by O3b Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of SES S.A. Outfitted with a Fregat upper stage, Soyuz will directly deliver the four 700-Kilogram satellites into their checkout orbit over the equator.

Event Details

Launch Date:

March 15, 2018

Launch Window:

TBA

Launch Vehicle:

Long March 3B/G2

Launch Operator:

CALT/CGWIC

Launch Site:

LC2, Xichang Satellite Launch Center

Payload:

APStar-6C

Satellite Type:

Communications

A Chinese Long March 3B rocket will launch the APStar-6C commercial communications satellite for APT Satellite Company Ltd under an end-to-end contract signed with China Great Wall Industry Corp. (CGWIC) for the construction of the satellite and its launch on a Chinese rocket. Based on the DFH-4 satellite platform, the satellite will host a hybrid payload comprising C, Ku, and Ka-Band payloads to deliver VSAT, video distribution, Direct-to-home television and cellular backhaul to the Asia-Pacific Region.

Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket will launch the DSN-1 and Hylas 4 telecommunications satellites into Geostationary Transfer Orbit for operators Intelsat and Japan’s SKY Perfect JSAT and DSN Corporation. DSN-1 joins the Japanese DSN constellation comprising two Geostationary Satellites providing secure communications capacity in X-Band for use by the Japanese government and armed forces. Part of DSN-1’s payload, designated Superbird 8, comprises Ku and Ka-Band transponders for commercial use. Hylas 4, built by Orbital ATK, is high-throughput broadband communications satellites delivering 28 GHz of capacity via 66 fixed Ka-Band beams positioned over Africa and Europe with four steerable beams that can service additional markets in Africa and Latin America.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch ten Iridium-NEXT mobile communications satellites into Low Earth Orbit in the continued effort to replace the entire heritage Iridium constellation with upgraded satellites supporting global communications, aeronautical monitoring and ship tracking. This is the fifth launch in support of Iridium-NEXT by SpaceX and the first of four Iridium missions planned in 2018 to finish deployment of the operational constellation of 75 satellites, all missions are using Falcon 9 launchers. Iridium-5 will re-use a previously flown Falcon 9, first launched on the Iridium-3 mission.

A Russian government-operated Proton-M rocket with Briz-M upper stage will launch the second of four planned Blagovest dual-use communications satellites. Blagovest builds a high-throughput communications constellation featuring powerful payloads operating in Ka-Band and the innovative Q-Band to support data-intensive communications in the civilian and military sectors. The satellites are used for high-speed Internet services, TV distribution, radio broadcasting and voice/video networking. This will be the fifth Proton launch in 2017 as the vehicle slowly makes its way back to old strengths after struggling with reliability over the last several years.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch five Iridium-NEXT mobile communications satellites and a pair of gravity-sensing satellites into Low Earth Orbit on a shared ride between Iridium Communications and GRACE-FO operators GFZ and NASA. SpaceX has been contracted to deploy 75 Iridium-NEXT satellites with deployment occurring in batches of ten, meaning one Falcon 9 would fly with half a load, leaving surplus performance for a co-passenger. The two GRACE Follow-On Satellites are flying as an extension of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment that has been tracking Earth’s gravitational field since 2002 and is headed into retirement in late 2017. GRACE shows how mass is distributed around the planet and its variation over time, allowing for modeling of Earth’s oceans, geology and climate.

The Iridium satellites are headed to orbit in the continued effort to replace the entire heritage Iridium constellation with upgraded satellites supporting global communications, aeronautical monitoring and ship tracking.

Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket, embarking on its third flight of 2018, will lift the GSAT-11 and Intelsat 38 communications satellites into Geostationary Transfer Orbit. GSAT-11 is India’s largest and most-powerful communications satellite to date, weighing 5,725 Kilograms and utilizing the new I-6K satellite platform designed for satellites in the six-metric-ton class. The satellite hosts 40 transponders operated in Ka/Ku-Band to provide high-throughput communication services with a total throughput of 10 Gbps. Intelsat 38 / Azerspace-2, built by Space Systems Loral, will be operated by Intelsat and Azercosmos OJSCo to provide continuity of services for the Intelsat 12 satellite and expand Azercosmos services in the area of DTH and networking services over capacity currently available via Azerspace-1.